I have purchased a soap opera magazine to get a better view of how soaps are portrayed and how audiences are enticed into watching a certain episodes along with how magazines set them selves out to attract the reader to buy them.
On the front of this magazine it has a picture of a couple who have both recently re entered the soap. The headline is " Kat's Baby Tragedy!" This title is stereotypical of these types of magazines, they use large headlines which strike a nerve with the reader to make them want to find out more. Other storylines which feature on the front page is a character in coronation street being run over and left for dead and a unwanted pregnancy. These issues are quite common place in soaps, they use scenarios which can happen in everyday life and show how other people deal with it.
The magazine uses a large rounded font for the title, this is to draw the readers eye in, other storylines are wrote in similar styles but smaller. The use of colour is very important, one side of the magazine is pink which shows that the audience it is targetting is females. Then the headline is written in white with a bold black outline. All headlines have bold outlines to draw the focus in on them.
I think this magazine is a stereotypical depiction of a soap opera magazine, the use of bright colours, large writing and pictures all draw the reader in with out explaining any storylines. This is a good example of how to set out a magazine to draw the reader in. The need for these techniques is great, in a shop with many different magazines, its the front cover which draws the most attention that gets bought.
I have found images to show the change in soap opera magazines since the explosion of soap operas on television:
By looking at these Soap opera magazines in age order i can view the changes in styles and will create the front cover of my magazine accordingly, so my magazine would be up to date with trends of the time. This way people will notice the soap that i am advertising.
I am going to look at work from students from previous years, this will help me see what i need to include and what makes a good trailer.
Helen How:
Mise-en-Scene: I think that the costumes chosen works well as it singles out the main character and shows how she is different to the rest, this works both ways as all other characters do not stand out and just become people and you do not learn much about them. The setting fits well with the plot of young people being together in a town.
Sound: The sound is slightly cheesy but as there is a limited supply of music without royalties it fits well with the genre. The diagetic conversation didn't feel like it fitted with the piece.
Titles: The titles use a road sign well, it looks good and well thought out, the writing that has been edited after looks rushed so does not look as professional.
Narrative: I was unclear what this trailer was for and what the soap itself would contain.
Camera Angles: There was a wide range of shots used including panning, long shots, close ups and mid shots. This gave the piece a wider feel. The editing between shots was also very good.
Solitude:
Mise-En Scene:
The Mise of this scene is good as it looks like quite a large housing estate which would connote lots of people but you can see they are alone which in turn heightens the fear as in an open public place he is alone. The costumes did not work quite as well in my eyes as the male was wearing smart attire compared to the female who was wearing a lot more casual clothing which makes the piece less believable.
Sound:
The sound in this piece is mainly non- diegetic, the soundtrack is an eery one which heightens the tension and straight away shows what genre this film would belong to. The diegetic sound was only one way speech which in my opinion lowered the tension. The sound also at points was jumpy but this could be altered quite easily.
Titles:
The titles were in the right order and followed the conventions found in film openings, the only issue with them is they didn't give off the interpretation of being from a horror genre as looked to friendly.
Narrative:
The narrative of this piece is that the boy is on his own due to unknown causes to the audience. The story that the piece will change into is unclear however.
Camera Angles:
There was a good mixture of camera angles in use in this piece. There was a good mix between long shots, mid shots and close up shots which gave a different feel to the piece. The use of panning also changed the way the piece felt as it created more tension rather then simply cutting to the next shot.
This piece of work has shown me how important it is to make the storyline clear or the audience is left not understanding and would not choose to watch the show.
In preparation for the making of my own Soap trailer I am going to take a trailer from each of the three biggest Soaps in the United Kingdom and analyse them in detail, this will help me get a better understanding of what to include and how to edit my own trailer.
Eastenders:
Mise-en-Scene:
The first scene is in a hospital which connotes death or loss, this has been reversed as you know that the man in the hospital is happy due to holding his babies hand. All of the trailer is centred around a hospital, some shots are outside to give different emotions. In the opening scene it has a babies cot with hospital equipment around it which connotes danger and death. In the next scene a male is seen to be in tears talking to another male, this clearly shows the male is not strong and something bad has happened to him. When the couple are outside the use of the out doors gives a greater sense of freedom compared to the confines of the hospital, this is where you hear some positive conversation, the setting creates an open view and more positive take on things.
Sound:
Throughout this clip there is non diegetic sounds, it is soft lullaby music as the main topic is a baby, the music has been made to sound like music from a horror film to create tension. The speech in the trailer is all different, when the male is holding onto the baby it is happiness which contrasts to the male crying and asking "to just say goodbye." The conversation outside is more positive as the male talks about a new start and the start of something good. The diegetic sound is used to create the mood and raise the tension.
Camera Angles:
The first shot is of a close up on the males finger being held by the baby, this is to show closeness and a fatherly bond. This is the establishing shot which sets the theme for the trailer, it shows that all of the problems revolve around a dispute for this baby. The next shot used is a mid shot of the father leaning over the cot whilst talking to the baby. These shots are used to show the close bond between the two characters. The high angle over the shoulder shot of the male crying makes him seem more weak and fragile. The use of a montage of shots showing different characters and their facial expressions shows all of the characters emotions towards each other. A low angle over the shoulder shot is used to make the female seem distressed, compared to the high angle shot used on the male to enforce him as the positive strong figure.
Narrative:
The narrative of the trailer is centred around the dispute for the child. It seems that both parties love the child and wish to look after it. This trailer is for one specific episode and not a group of story lines.
Titles:
The titles appear at the end, they state when the show is airing. The use of minimalist titles focuses the attention to the characters and what is happening with them.
Coronation Street:
Mise-en-scene:
The trailer is set inside a church, the theme of the trailer is a wedding. This is normally associated with a happy occasion, but with the darker lighting it creates a more sinister feel to it. The female character is dressed in all white which connotes innocence, which contrasts to the male who has dark make up on to create a harsher look to him, this is a sign of things to come. The shot of the female protagonist holding flowers smiling with her mother is a happy sight which contrasts to what the man is saying over the top of the shot.
Sound:
There is a large amount of non diegetic sound going on through out this trailer, one is a song being played in the back ground, it is of a well known artist "Adele" This song is a sad song which adds to the mood of the trailer. Other diegetic sound is the male protagonists voice stating that "what ever happens it is down to me" This ultimately shows that something bad is going to happen. The use of diegetic speech is used to show the outcome of the service and show what the build up was for.
Camera Angles:
A number of shots are used throughout this trailer to give a different sense of perspective. The establishing shot is of the bride and her mum, their expressions are of happiness, this then jumps into a eye line shot of the male protagonist to show his intent to not go ahead with the marriage. A crane shot is used twice, once to show the concentration on the saying of the vowels in the church and another when another female gets up and walks out of the church, both of these are to highlight different turning points in the episode. Eye line shots are used on the bride to show her happiness and also used on other characters to show their emotions. The use of the close up shows the couple holding hands, it shows the females hand being over the males hand when usually it is the other way around, this shows the females love and the males disinterest.
Narrative:
The narrative of this piece is the wedding falling through, it is showing that it is the end of a large storyline. This trailer is advertising a single episode as the pinnacle point of the storyline.
Titling:
Emmerdale:
Mise-en-Scene:
This trailer is very dark and made to be mysterious. The lighting in this trailer is very dark so is difficult to distinguish the man who caused the fire. The first thing that is shown in a cars rear lights and a male stepping out. The use of this shot is to show that they do not live close and has clearly planned this attack. The identity of the male is concealed throughout this trailer with the use of a long dark coloured coat alongside the setting of night time. A few items are highlighted in this trailer, emphasis is given to the petrol can and the lighter, this is because they are the weapons so create the fear of what is to come. There is clues into when this trailer was made with snow on the floor, which causes the audience to be able to place the problem inside their own lives as conditions are the same.
The house that is set alight is not shown from the front onwards to conceal its identity so secrets are left for the actual episode.
Sound:
At the start of the piece low level non diegetic horror music can be heard, this creates tension and gives a sense of wrong doing. Sounds are heightened in this trailer to show their importance, for example the door and the flicking of the lighter are made to be louder as are both important to the outcome of the trailer. Other non diegetic sounds are used to create tension, the sound of the emergency services rings around very soon after the fire is started, this is coupled with the sounds of civilians shouting "people are in there" etc. All of these effects are used to create tension and causing the audience to want to know what will happen to the people inside.
Camera Angles:
A variety of camera angles are used in this trailer, they are used for different reasons and create different emotions. The establishing shot of the car pulling up and the rear lights turning on creates a sense of unknowing which is heightened by a pan down shot of the male leaving the car. A close up is used on the petrol can and lighter is used to show that they are the weapon and that they are the objects which are going to cause the damage. A long shot is used on the male to show his build and gender but you are unable to see the face or make out features, this is done to heighten the feeling of unknowing which draws in a larger audience as people want to know who it is. When the emergency services arrive a crane shot is used to show their position, this then leads into a high Angle shot which shows how they are helpless against the growing flame.
Narratives:
This trailer is advertising a single episode. The episode is called "A fire in the dales." When a show creates a large scale trailer like this one to advertise an episode it makes the audience realise that it will either be a sad or a dramatic episode that will have a big outcome.
Titling:
The only titles that appear during this trailer is that for the times that the episode is airing, this has been done to keep the audiences attention solely on the actions on screen and not thinking when it is.
I have realised through my research into Soap trailers that many follow the same conventions, a large variety of shots are used in each to create a wider spectrum of views, the use of sound is very important as adds a different dimension to the action. I will make sure I include these techniques in my trailer so it fits in with the conventions of soap trailers.
